never mind your bleeding heart
by belle parole
Summary: fred and angelina and falling in love but never being sure enough to try [two-shot, but can be read as two one-shots, originally uploaded april 10, 2017]
1. how long must i wait

_2301 words, by google docs_

* * *

Fred's born with Angelina scrawled on his arm in big letters and so he resolves to only wear long sleeves. What if, he reasons, someone named Angelina sees his arm and thinks that she's his soulmate, but _he's_ not _hers_?

Besides, it'll be easier for his mother to tell George and him apart. Well, only if George doesn't wears long sleeves, too.

Fred gives George some long sleeved shirts.

…

George's tattoo starts to fade. George has Seamus scribbled onto his collarbone and it was _definitely_ much darker against his skin yesterday and they're freaking out. It's as if George's soulmate is slipping away from this world.

Fred didn't even know that was possible, but he's scared that his tattoo, his Angelina, will start fading, too. He doesn't know Angelina yet, but he still cares about her so much is makes his throat hurt.

It doesn't fade and he breathes and he forgets about it.

…

He introduced himself to her first. He didn't even mean to, but there were two open seats on either side of her, so he and George filled them, introducing themselves.

When she says, "Hi, I'm Angelina Johnson," he can feel his face go red as George coughs.

Fred _swears_ , if George messes this up for him, he will be _murdered_.

"That's a nice name," he says instead, smiling. She doesn't see George's smirk from behind her.

…

Fred is pretty certain that Angelina is dating Lee, but he doesn't want to confront either of them about it.

For starters, what if Angelina _isn't_ his soulmate? There's probably more than one Angelina in the world. It can't be _that_ unique of a name. If Fred broke up their relationship and he isn't Angelina's soulmate, well, that would _suck_. They might not even be compatible and he would've broken up his best friend's relationship.

And also, there's the fact that, though Fred hasn't been vocal on the whole 'soulmate' thing, Lee's soulmate is supposed to be Angelina. He has Angelina written along the side of his body and Fred's stomach drops just thinking about it.

And then Lee comes to Fred with tears in his eyes and his face red and—

"Angelina broke up with me."

Fred blinks and pops his ears. He probably misheard. Why would Angelina break up with Lee? Unless _her_ soulmate isn't Lee, which means that it could be—

"Why?" Fred asks. He's trying not grin, he _really_ is, but he's not sure how good of a job he's doing.

"I don't know," Lee tells him, his voice barely above a whisper. Fred pats Lee on the shoulder while pulling up his sleeve at the same time; he doesn't want Lee to know that he is _definitely_ going to try Angelina next. Even he knows that it would be a _douche_ move to do that.

"There are other Angelinas in the world, mate," Fred says, telling Lee the same thing he's told himself so many times. Lee nods, taking a deep breath. "It's a big world."

Lee's quiet for another second before looking up.

"I'm not going to give up, though."

Fred raises his eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asks. He knows _exactly_ what Lee means but he's hoping that he's wrong.

"I'm not going to give up on Angelina," Lee says, a determined look on his face. Fred forces a smile.

"That's… great."

…

"Wow, great Fred."

Fred looks up from his reflection to see Lee enter the room, a frown on his face.

"What is?" Fred says. He's aware of his hands shaking but he can't help it; he's too nervous. He finally got the courage to ask Angelina on a date and now he doesn't know if he can go through with it.

 _His soulmate_.

"You're bringing Angelina to the ball?" Lee asks and his words slap Fred. Maybe he forgot about Lee's 'Quest to Angelina' but, as much as he hates himself for it, he doesn't care. Angelina is supposed to be _his_. It's written on his skin.

 _You could be wrong,_ a small part of him says. He tries to push it down, though.

"Yes," Fred says, wincing at the expression on Lee's face, as if Fred personally betrayed him. Lee's shoulders slump, like he's exhausted and it's a few seconds before he looks back up.

"Well, I hope you get the girl then, mate."

…

Fred's on top of the moon. He's gone farther than the top of the world and he's on top of the moon. Angelina. _Angelina_. Who he's _dancing_ with. Angelina.

"Hey, I have something to tell you," she says, pausing their dancing. Fred nods, but then realises that her voice sounds a little bit dry. Idiot. He should've gotten them drinks.

"One second," he says with a smile. "I'm going to get us more butterbeer."

He grabs a couple of bottles and makes his way back to Angelina, looking around the room. He sees Ron and Harry sitting off to the side, Ginny dancing with Neville, and George— _finally_ —talking to Seamus on the other side of the room. He feels _good_ and bubbly. Maybe he should just come out and tell Angelina that she's his soulmate.

"What were you saying?" Fred asks as he approaches her again. She opens her mouth, about to say something, but then hesitates, looking at something. Fred follows her eyes to his arm. His sleeve is pushed up. He quickly pushes back down; this is _not_ how he wanted to have this conversation.

"Nothing, nevermind," she says, giving him a smile. Fred raises an eyebrow, his mind racing. Was she just about to tell him that they weren't meant to be because Fred's not her soulmate? Or maybe she was going to tell Fred that they were soulmates? Or maybe Fred's just getting too caught up in soulmates.

"Want to dance some more?" he asks instead. He could use a good dance, but Angelina gives him a little smile instead. It doesn't look good.

"I'm going to head out, actually, Fred. Thanks for tonight, though."

Fred hearts plummets. It's not even in his chest anymore. It fell, deep into his stomach.

He should've told her.

…

Fred's going to miss Angelina. He realises that with a jolt when him and George are knee-deep in planning. He supposes he sighs too loudly because George looks up with a frown.

"What?" he asks, giving Fred a look of concern.

"I can't do this," Fred says, sinking down in his chair. How is he supposed to leave this all behind? It's probably harder for George; he's leaving Seamus at Hogwarts. At least Angelina is leaving too, at the end of the year.

"You're going insane," George tells him, turning back to their papers.

"Probably," Fred agrees. He stands up, a crazy idea blooming in his head. "I'm going to go see Angelina."

" _Oh_ ," George says, realisation dawning onto his face. " _That's_ what this is about." George looks back up and Fred nods sadly. "Go get her."

It doesn't take long to find her; she's still sitting in the common room, papers spread out around her. Between Quidditch and N.E.W.T.s, Fred thinks that Angelina is stressing herself out too much. To be fair, Fred isn't doing either.

"Hey, Ange," he says, sitting down in the chair next to her. He doesn't know what to say. Is he actually going to tell her, right here, right now? She looks up at him, bags under her eyes, but she seems to relax when she sees that it's just Fred. That's a good sign, right?

"Hey," she whispers, giving her a strained smile. And then he can't help himself and he leans in and—

"Oh," Angelina says, when she pulls away from him. Fred's lips are tingling with the taste of _Angelina_ and Angelina looks more awake, blinking fast.

"We're leaving Hogwarts," Fred blurts out, looking for some reason to explain why he kissed her and that's the reason, isn't it? That he's leaving and he's scared that he'll never see her again. _Terrified_ that he'll never see her again.

"Leaving Hogwarts?" she echoes, questions etched on her face that Fred can't quite read.

"George and I. We're leaving. Soon."

The hurt on Angelina's face hurts Fred, _tears_ him apart, but he doesn't know what to say.

He could tell her, of course, that she's his soulmate, but then he's going to want to _stay_ with her. He and George have spent _weeks_ planning. He can't abandoned him now, no matter how much he wants to be with Angelina. Besides, he's not even sure if she even likes him _like that_.

"You're leaving," she repeats. "Am I going to see you again?"

Fred doesn't know how to respond. _Will_ she?

"We're opening a shop on Diagon Alley," he tells her. "Come and visit and hopefully you will."

Angelina nods, still blinking. "Hopefully."

…

The shop is lonely. The shop is lonely because Fred's the only one working there. George's soulmate tattoo started to fade and George, now actually _knowing_ Seamus has worried himself to the point where George is actually sick. So Fred's the only one working in the shop but he gets it, he really does—he's worried about everyone at Hogwarts and his _soulmate_ isn't even there.

He doesn't even know where his soulmate it. Somewhere happy, he hopes.

The bell on the door rings and Fred straightens up. There's not many customers nowadays so he need to gets as much as he can from anyone coming in. He looks at the person who just walked in and—

So _that's_ where his soulmate is. Right in front of him.

"Angelina," he says, clearing his throat. There's a lump there. She looks even more pretty. Or maybe absence just made his heart grow fonder.

"Fred," she says smiling. And then, so quick that Fred's brain doesn't even fully register it happening, Angelina is next to him and has her hands on his face and their kissing.

"You came and visited," Fred notes, pulling away. They're in the middle of a war. He shouldn't be thinking about her, but now that's all he can think of, like a mantra echoing in his head: _Angelina. Angelina. Angelina. Angelina. Angelina._

"How could I stay away?" she asks, a smirk on her face.

"Do you—?" Fred starts, not sure what he's doing. "Do you want to go upstairs?"

Angelina raises an eyebrow. "Lead the way."

…

Fred finally has her in his bed and it's…

Awkward.

He's not sure what he wants to _do_. He's not sure what she wants to do, either, and it's probably important that he asks her because _consent_ , but if she asks him the same question he has no answer. He'd prefer to keep his clothes on because he's _definitely_ not ready to have the whole 'oh, you're probably my soulmate' talk with her, even though he's pretty sure that she wouldn't be with him if he wasn't her soulmate, too.

"You know, soulmate tattoos can fade," he says, randomly, thinking about his brother, worrying about Seamus all the time. His brother's tattoo is _so close_ to gone because Seamus is _so close_ to being gone, just like when they were younger and it's making George want to tear his hair out because they don't know for sure what's happening at Hogwarts.

"Really?" Angelina asks. It's dark, but they're so close that Fred can see her raise a single eyebrow, just a tiny bit.

"Yeah. Apparently if you soulmate dies, or is near death, it could disappear. Seamus, when he was younger was almost killed by his dad. George's tattoo nearly faded. We had no idea what was going on, but it eventually came back, stronger and darker. Now, though—" Fred stops speaking because he has _no idea_ where he's going with this story. Why is he even telling Angelina this story? It's Seamus and George's, not his.

"Interesting."

Fred reaches out a hand and gingerly touches her upper arm. He doesn't know what he's doing. His thoughts are going so fast that he can barely process them. They're all just a big mess of: _oh my god I'm with Angelina and we might do_ it _and are we actually going to do it and am I ready to do it and—_

"Do you—?" Angelina asks, her breath hitting his nose as he moves himself slightly closer. It smells minty, as if she had just brushed her teeth.

"Only if you—" Fred responds, cutting himself off. He can't make himself say the words. His heart is beating so fast, though, that he's certain that she can hear it and she knows what he means.

"I do," she says, her voice low and Fred closes the distance between them, making their lips touch and they've kissed before but they've never _kissed_ , Fred realises. His heart continues to beat too fast and he's pretty sure that it's about to burst.

He only pulls away when his pocket grows unusually warm. Fumbling, he draws out the tiny galleon, back from Dumbledore's army. He's never bothered to take it out of his pockets, carrying it around _just in case_. There's a small message sent through it and his heart almost stops.

"What is it?" Angelina asks, peering at him. Fred sits up and grabs his wand from the floor, turning on the lights with a flick. "Is that—?" she asks, but Fred isn't looking at her. He's still staring at the message, hoping it isn't true.

"The battle is starting. Get changed. We need to go to Hogwarts."

…

Fred sees her getting changed, right before they leave. He sees Fred traced on her hip and he almost wants to say something but he leaves it alone; they need to fight a _war_.

After all, there'll be all the time in the world after they win.

* * *

 _for:_

 _auction [fred]_

 _couple appreciation [jealousy]_

 _unicorn day [unique]_

 _scavenger hunt [one of the weasleys]_

 _writing club [character appreciation - twins (bonus 5 for using fred and george); disney - roo; amber's attic - 25 (bonus 5); showtime - overture; liza's loves - soulmates; lyric alley - 18; aaa - twims]_

 _bingo [43]_

 _easter basket [scissors]_

 _guess the name [buddy - www]_


	2. till you learn that it's not too late

_2300 words, by google docs_

* * *

Angelina's born with Fred traced on her hip, in perfect calligraphy, and it's basically a curse. She looks it up on her father's laptop once and it's a surprise to her: there's not actually that many Freds in the United Kingdom. Still, it seems like such an ordinary name. How is she supposed to know if, when she meets a Fred, it's _her_ Fred?

So Angelina keeps it hidden away, figuring that she'll find her soulmate eventually. Just not now.

…

It happens in her first year, which is way faster than she was expecting.

"Hi, I'm Fred Weasley," he says, his hair messy and his grin lopsided. Angelina almost tells him, right then and there, that he might be her soulmate.

But then a boy who looks identical to him sits on her other side and says, "Hi, I'm George Weasley." He has the same messy hair and the same lopsided grin and something in her tells her that these boys will rain down hell onto her.

So she waits to say anything about the tattoo on her hip.

…

Lee asks her out in their third year and she accepts. It's weird and it's awkward and she knows that she's probably too young to be going out with anyone, but Lee's nice and her friend.

She knows that _Lee_ isn't her soulmate, but he seems smitten with her and she's starting to wonder if she could be his soulmate but he isn't hers. Does that happen? She can't bring herself to break his heart, though. Maybe that's her greatest weakness. Maybe she'll never learn how to break Lee's heart and they'll end up together and she'll be unhappy and she'll never be with Fred, even if Fred Weasley isn't _her_ Fred and she'll have to live the rest of her life wondering _what could've been_ and—

Aren't Gryffindors supposed to be brave?

They are, she decides, and so she sits Lee down and tells him:

"I don't think we're right for each other."

"What?"

In that one word, Angelina can her his heart break, over and over and over again and her own heart is in pain and she thinks, for a second—screw it all, screw soulmates, screw her Fred, screw it _all_ —but then she remembers that soulmates are supposed to make her happy. She wants to have pure happiness with Fred.

"I can't do this anymore," she tells Lee, her hand going to her hip, where Fred is still scrawled.

Lee blinks quickly but nods.

"So that's it?"

"Yeah," she says, not sure what else to say. She's never done this before. She didn't realise how _hard_ it was.

Lee nods again before getting up, stiffly, and walking away. A minute passes before Angelina gets up too, walking away.

She leaves her heart there, in pieces.

…

"Stop shifting your dress, Ange."

Angelina sighs as Alicia swarms around her, making sure her hair and her dress and her makeup and _everything_ is in place. Honestly, Angelina thinks that Alicia is more invested in her date to the Yule Ball than _her_.

She is excited, though! It's with _Fred_. Maybe tonight will be the night where she finally gets the words to tell him a fact that's she's not sure is a fact: they're _soulmates_.

"Are you going to tell him?" Alicia asks once she deems Angelina's outfit good enough.

Angelina rolls her eyes. She _had_ to tell Alicia about her tattoo because Alicia has an _obsession_. She wasn't born with one herself so she takes pleasure in meddling with other people's soulmates.

"I don't know, Alicia. Probably not," she admits. She's _still_ scared that his doesn't match hers. That she's not his soulmate.

"I'm expecting you to have a boyfriend by the end of the night!"

Angelina rolls her eyes, getting up and shifting her dress one last time.

…

"Hey, I have something to tell you," Angelina says, taking a deep breath. There's no time like the present, right? She's a _Gryffindor_. She can do this.

"One second," Fred says, something glittering in his eyes. "I'm going to get us more butterbeer."

He breaks apart from her, going to the refreshments table, taking her courage with him, and grabbing a couple of drinks. Angelina scans the room and spots Alicia looking at her, grinning.

Alicia nods at her, excited, but Angelina shakes her head with a little sigh.

She can't do it.

"What were you saying?" Fred says, returning and handing her a drink. She stares at his arm, where his dress robes' sleeve have gotten slightly pushed up. She realises with a start that she's never _seen_ his arm before. It must where his soulmate is marked.

She can see an 'A' and an 'N' and is that a—

Fred pushes down his sleeves before she can tell what the third letter is. Something flutters inside of her and tells her that is was a ' _G'_. Still, she doesn't know for sure if she did see a 'G' and even if she _did_ , there are plenty of names that start with 'ang'. It's probably not her.

"Nothing, nevermind," she says, giving him a smile as her heart plummets. He raises a single eyebrow, but then shrugs it off.

"Want to dance some more?" The request is nice, but she feels queasy from overthinking who his soulmate is. Maybe she should've told him but she can't bring herself to form the words.

"I'm going to head out, actually, Fred," she says instead. She knows that Alicia will _murder_ her for leaving without having Fred as her boyfriend. "Thanks for tonight, though."

With that, she starts walking towards the entrance, her chest a gaping hole.

…

Fred kisses her and her heart explodes. And then her head explodes because—

 _Does this mean I'm his soulmate? Are we meant to be? Why is he kissing me now? Has he always had such soft lips? What is happening?_

She's the one to pull away, blinking hard.

"Oh," she says, she doesn't know what else to say. What do you _say_ to that? She swears, if Fred did it for some type of _joke_ , she will rip his tongue out because he's supposed to be her soulmate and she can't take something like that happening to her and—

"We're leaving Hogwarts." Fred's statement pulls her out of her thoughts with a hard slap. She isn't sure she heard right.

"Leaving Hogwarts?" she echoes. It's too much. Fred's too much. He _kissed_ her and he's going to leave and she's going to be alone? She _needs_ to tell him. She doesn't know _how_ to tell him.

"George and I. We're leaving. Soon."

Angelina's heart sags. Maybe she's just tired; it's almost near N.E.W.T.s and she's been straining herself, studying non-stop. Her brain is too full. She just wants everything to stop, just for a moment.

"You're leaving," she repeats, unable to form her own words. She's too shocked to try. Why is Fred telling her all of this? "Am I going to see you again?"

Fred hesitates and Angelina already knows the answer—that's it. Their relationship is over. Unless she tells him…

"We're opening a shop on Diagon Alley," he tells her, finally. "Come and visit and hopefully you will."

Angelina swallows hard. This sounds too much like a goodbye, but then again, she reminds herself, it _is_ a goodbye… "Hopefully," she says, meaning it.

…

Angelina's head hurts and she can only think about Fred. Fred has consumed her thoughts, consumed her _life_. He makes her head pound and her heart ache and one afternoon, while making her and Alicia food in their tiny kitchen, she puts down the spoon.

"Are you okay, Ange?" Alicia asks. Angelina supposes that she must've frozen in her place, but she's _done_. She done obsessing over someone who's not with her. She's done waiting for him to come to her. She needs to go to him, she realises, because they're in a _war_ and she needs her soulmate by her side.

"Ange?" Alicia repeats, standing up and waving a hand in front of Angelina. Angelina juts her head out.

"I need to see Fred," she says, her heart tugging are her vocal chords, telling her exactly what to say.

"You need to see Fred," Alicia repeats, slowly. Angelina nods, and maybe it's her heart controlling her again, but that's all she knows. She only knows Fred and how much she needs to see him—before they both die. Alicia pats Angelina's shoulder and maybe she says something, too, some words of encouragement, but Angelina doesn't hear anything because all she can think of is Fred. Fred's been consuming her thoughts lately, but now it's all she can think. He's so close…

Diagon Alley, when she gets there, is all dark. There are only one or two shops open, but one shop in particular is a huge beam of light. Angelina's heart feels fuller just looking at it. Weasleys' Wizards Wheezes. This is it. She's about to get her soulmate.

 _Finally_.

She walks through the door, causing it to give a little ring, and spots Fred at the front desk. She's so sure it's Fred because her heart seems to be pulling towards him. It's almost painful.

"Angelina," Fred says, his voice cracking as if he hasn't used it in days. Angelina smiles because despite everything, there's _Fred_. She's allowed to smile, with him.

"Fred," she says, moving closer. She's not even walking anymore, her heart making her glide across the floor to him. She doesn't even know what she's doing but she grabs his face in her hands and make their lips collide.

"You came and visited," Fred says, pulling away after _way_ too short. Angelina's heart is screaming, hungry for more, but she pushed it down and replies:

"How could I stay away?"

She can see Fred take a deep breath and it's nice to know that she's not the only nervous one here, that he's scared too. Her heart is about to jump out of her chest.

"Do you—?" Fred says. He's breathing so hard that Angelina can almost feel his breath. "Do you want to go upstairs?" And that question is so, _so_ tantasing.

"Lead the way."

…

Angelina doesn't know what she's doing. She doesn't know why she kissed Fred, why she talked to him, why she agreed to go to his _bed_ with him. What if everything is all wrong? What if this isn't her Fred?

She doesn't know what to say. _Anything_ would be ideal because the silence is awkward and almost pounding in her ears. She wants to bring up soulmates but there's no smooth way to say it, so she just waits. She's done being in charge. For once, he'll make the first move.

"You know, soulmate tattoos can fade," Fred says after a bit, breaking the ear-splitting silence.

"Really?" She says. What is she supposed to say to that? What is the proper response here? Is he trying to tell her that Angelina _used_ to be his soulmate but know she isn't?

"Yeah," Fred continues, breathing hard. "Apparently if you soulmate dies, or is near death, it could disappear. Seamus, when he was younger was almost killed by his dad. George's tattoo nearly faded. We had no idea what was going on, but it eventually came back, stronger and darker. Now, though—" Fred's voice cracks and Angelina's heart breaks. It breaks for Fred's brother and it breaks for Seamus and it breaks for Hogwarts, the place that was he second home. Now though what kind of _home_ is it?

"Interesting." Apparently Angelina can't get out more than one word. Her brain is having difficulty thinking of anything to say and she's pretty sure that if she even comes up with a response she won't be able to get the words out. Her mouth's as dry as the desert. Fred places a single hand on her arm softly and Angelina is _so_ hyper-aware of every touch that she's wondering if Fred is aware, too, and if he can feel the goosebumps forming on her arm, going up to her shoulder and making everything feel prickly.

"Do you—?" she asks, the words getting stuck in her throat. She hopes he knows what he means because if he doesn't she can just _imagine_ the awkwardness.

"Only if you—" he responses, cutting himself off too and shifting closer to her. The hairs on her body seem to be pointing towards him, wanting their bodies to crash together and just _do it_ already.

"I do," she tells him. It takes everything not to laugh because they're in the middle of a _war_ and they're thinking about…

And then Fred presses his lips onto hers and the thought flies out of her mind because her mind goes _blank_. There is no war, there is no outside world, there is just this bed and her and Fred, nothing else.

She almost can't stand it when he pulls away. She stays laying down for a bit, before Fred turns on the lights. Sitting up, she can see something small and gold in his hands.

"What is it?" she asks, peering at the object before it hits her. "Is that—?" It must be: the galleons they used in their seventh year, for Dumbledore's Army. Angelina is sort of impressed that Fred still has his but she has no time to marvel at that fact; Fred looks up at her with pure terror in his eyes. Something _bad_ has happened and Angelina can't stop the panic rising in her.

"The battle is starting," Fred whispers. "Get changed. We need to go to Hogwarts."

…

Angelina checks, after the war is over and Fred is gone, but it's faded on her hip, barely visible.

She was right.

* * *

 _for:_

 _auction [angelina]_

 _couple appreciation [love]_

 _film festival [2]_

 _unicorn day [courage]_

 _scavenger hunt [less than 50 fics in archive - fred/angelina - 21 at time of posting]_

 _writing club [character appreciation - angelina (bonus 5 for using fred and george); disney - "any day spent with you is my favorite day. so today is my new favorite day"; amber's attic - 10 (bonus 5); showtime - take a letter miss jones; lyric alley - 20; aaa - this ain't no normal radio show; sophie's shelf - laura]_

 _egg hunt [30]_

 _bingo [20]_

 _easter basket [glue]_


End file.
